Chapter Nine

Hope you liked the gifts? Dinner by 8? Hmu if you're down.

"The gifts were from Duncan." Celine waved her phone towards Tessy's face showing her the text.

"Awwn," Tessy's replied and then buried her face into her screen.

"Again, not an 'awwn' situation. My brother is asking me out on a date. PS I'm like five years older." Celine fell heavily on the leather dressing chair before the human sized mirror in front of her.

Tessy dropped her phone and clasped her hands together forming a tight lock between both hands and then pushed it forward, then continued, "it's just dinner. People can go for a dinner together and it might not be anything serious you know? Let's not just jump into hasty conclusions."

"Babe, this is Nigeria. Dinner is the baptismal name for a date. No one buys gifts for someone they are not interested in... I guess it's time to come clean. I'll reveal my identity this night," Celine replied.

"No you can't do that yet. For all we know, Damian decided to send you out of the house because he started growing suspicious of you. This is our only lead to knowing what's happening in the house and keep up with finding out about your mum," Tessy replied. She sprang up from within the thick sheets and leapt into Celine's closet. There were over fifty rooms in that house for all she knew, but they still shared a bed. She came out few minutes later with a long dress whose side was slit open up to the knees. It was special gift Celine had gotten many years back such that it was impossible to tell if it still fit. Tessy, as though reading her mind, helped her get into the dress but had to tug the hems by the zipper and drag it backward forcefully so as to close it up.

Tessy twirled her a rough 180° and brought her in view with the mirror. Celine admired the slender curvature her body displayed. She placed her hand on her lower abdomen and felt a slight budge. Perhaps it was a fat lunch, she presumed and quickly forced in prolonged breaths which hid the bulge. "It's time to get you ready," Tessy whispered into her ears. Her words left a cool chill on Celine's ear lobes, rising the hairs attached to it and making each stand.

*****

Duncan whistled as he subtly danced about the standing mirror in self approval. He was graced in a black tuxedo and had applied extra gel to his hair making each strand wavy in appearance. He whistled as he used a small comb to ruffle his hair the more with its tiny bristles creating extra curls on his hair. He apparently wanted Daniel to say something complementary but the latter seemed carried away by the moving figures on the screen to care about his brother's stunt. Until he finally noticed.

"You do seem extra cherry," Daniel said, muting the audible graphics on the screen until they were just moving pictures and walked towards him by the room's end.

Duncan sprayed his perfume of strong scent and intoxicating glamour, which would linger for what seemed like minutes in one's nostrils before sinking down to the trachea. Daniel usually pitied asthmatic patients who dared entered his room at times like this or even worse, into Damian's room for he was the king of mixing perfumes until he got a unique scent.

Duncan walked into the stuffy air of cologne and spreading his arms to let in all the scent to stick to his cloth, he said, "I'm in love."

"That is sick, the good sick. You haven't fallen in love in twenty-three years and you're twenty-three by the way," Daniel teased and broke into a short chain of laughter.

"There was Rita," Duncan interrupted, still ruffling the coils. It needed no more tweaking but he wanted perfection.

"Rita was a crazy person," Daniel quickly replied.

"She was paranoid and had her fears but let's not mess with the word crazy," Duncan defended. His tone depicted finality but Daniel wasn't quite finished.

"Dude your girl was always pointing to an invisible image on the wall. That was crazy... Like she needed urgent medical attention."

"Hey!" Duncan started, "If she said she always saw something in this house, then she did. There are a lot of things that have been going on in this house that have defied explanation."

"OK! Whatever you say. So, who is your date?" Daniel asked, running his fingers around a vase which adorned within, were hibiscuses denied of life. The petals were made of cotton and he rummaged them.

"Well... You know her. It's Celine."

"Who?" Daniel asked turning sharply. "She- she agreed to go on a date with you?" Daniel asked.

"That much of a big surprise huh?"

"For all we know, we don't really know her true identity like why she just showed up to our house and... and why she wanted to be close to us. She could be anybody," Daniel shot. "I think she's our sister."

"A makeup story just to spoil this one thing that's important to me? You are unbelievable Daniel," Duncan replied and grabbed his suit jacket turning to leave. He banged the door so hard, the impact made a large noise. It was his way of telling he was annoyed. Daniel sighed perturbed at his brother rash decision especially after the events of the previous night stirred in him. He couldn't quite understand what those texts that flashed back at him really meant, but he knew for sure Celine was up to no good. He reached for the door handle to leave the sitting room, but stopped when a beep came up. He palmed his back and front pockets and saw his phone at his side pocket, which meant the beep had to be from Duncan's phone. He walked towards the phone at the table and lifted it up.

"Duncan you left your ph-" he tried calling out, but his words got stuck on his throat as he beheld the message at the lock screen.

I have the information you wanted about your father, your real father. Come over and I'll tell you what you need to know... Regina.

*****

The night was calm, an idea of a perfect date evening. Celine sat by her own end of the long table at the supposed venue and stared into thin air, lost in thoughts. She had of course wanted the dinner to be at her hotel, but Duncan objected insisting that she needed a break from the environment. A waiter just like one of the many she had in her hotel, walked up to her to take her order but she declined saying she was waiting for someone else.

A few minutes later, she saw a hazy view of Duncan walk into sight and she put a smile. One that lifted both ends of her bony cheeks and slightly revealed her gap tooth.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he started. He pulled out the jacket and fell unto his own end of the seat. "Traffic," he added and she nodded in understanding. The waiter came again few minutes later after compliments were exchanged and she held unto the menu card looking at the contents. She feared he might not have enough money for all the extravagance on the list. Even the simplest plain meal with no additives, was ranging ten thousand naira. She could have let him pick the venue instead. She watched him grace the pocket by his trouser and draw out his wallet. He looked into the partitions within and she stretched too to see he didn't have enough money for even a single person. She saw the look on his face, one flushed with embarrassment.

"You know, I'm not really hungry," she said, closing the card. "I had a very fat lunch."

"You should have something. Maybe a drink?" He asked and she picked out a juice pack to go. It was already starting to be awkward between them and she had not yet delved into her major concern for coming. He had refused to eat if she wasn't eating and she had begun to wish the whole night never happened. They had gone back and forth on the issue for a while, before he succumbed to having rice. There was no meat, no extra garnishes, just plain fried rice.

"It's so unfortunate I had to leave your house, I was starting to feel at home," she quipped.

"Yes, it was really nice having you over."

"I couldn't help but notice that particular door you guys always kept locked. Whose room was it?" She asked, hoping she didn't dive too quickly.

He slowed his munching and gazed at her, a long worrisome look. That was definitely not a first date kind of question.

"My dad's. That was an extra bedroom he frequented whenever he wanted to think or do his business."

"Business?" Celine paused. "What kind of business?"

"Personal kind... Work related... We could never tell."

"Why didn't you ever ask?" Celine asked.

"I'm getting rather uncomfortable with the topic of discussion," he replied and Celine apologized. She decided to down few glasses of the orange juice as he changed the topic. He highlighted a few trending topics ranging from politics, to the weather, they talked movies and TV shows and even glances of sports. Each topic a lot boring than the former. A clear indication that he knew nothing of who and what she preferred.

"You don't seem interested," he noticed.

"I am. I just can't remember the last time I turned on the television," she replied, chuckling. "Careful! You'd stain your clothes with that," she added as he tried pouring himself a glass of juice and she watched the liquid near the rim of the glass.

"You know, Daniel said something to me before I came here," he said.

"Oh really? What was that?" She asked gulping hers.

"That you're our sister."

She choked on the drink coughing repeatedly that he offered her a a glass of water to sublime the choking. Beating her chest and gulping down the glass of water, she nodded in response to his apologies. Needless to say, the dinner was an epic fail.

*****

Celine wandered into her house and her silver purse was carried from her grip by her elderly house keeper. Celine had outrightly refused an elder lady serving and keeping guard of the entire house, but Ma Grace had insisted begging she was good at everything and proved it so she let her be.

Celine took off her clanking stilettoes and sauntered the stairs on bare feet. They were cold, much from the rigorous cleaning on an everyday. She walked into her room and saw Tessy on the bed looking intently on something on her phone. No surprises there.

"Well... I'm back!" Celine let out when Tessy hadn't acknowledged her presence.

Tessy switched to the laptop by her side and punched multiple keys at once each key being depressed by her fingers as she further widened her eyes in disbelief. "Yea, welcome. How was your date?" She managed to ask.

"Not good. I think they're starting to know my plan. Duncan said Daniel had told him," Celine said resting her aching back on a chair.

Tessy looked up from the screen of the laptop slightly parting her lips in bewilderment. "How did he find that out?" She asked.

"I don't know honestly," Celine replied. "How could they possibly know that I'm their sister?"

"Maybe you're not."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Celine asked slightly adjusting on the chair. Tessy turned the laptop around enough for her to see the picture on display. A picture of Damian and Laura rubbing heads at an occasion. "You're still obsessed with Damian? He's married now!"

"No, not that. Look at the date," Tessy added.

Celine squinted at the date beneath the picture of the post written in tiny print. "10 June 2018... OK so?"

"That's Diane's birthday or at least so did the certificate say and in this picture, Laura was celebrating her birthday," Tessy replied.

"This doesn't prove anything," Celine said slowly retreating back to her former position.

"Yes it didn't to me at first but I noticed all the recent pictures of Laura were those taken by Damian. She doesn't have a social media account with her name," Tessy added.

"Tessy dear, some people choose to keep their business out of social media. It doesn't mean anything," Celine replied.

"That's what I said until out of curiosity, I searched up Diane Richards on Instagram and look what I found. Her fingers swung elegantly into action on the keys and again another page came into sight.

"Laura?"